La Pucelle
by Schwan
Summary: During the battle with Caster's monster, Saber is wounded by Berserker before she can use her noble phantasm. All hope seems lost until an unlikely heroine comes to save the day, along with the Holy Grail Wars. One-shot.


**Hey guys! This is a oneshot here about Joan of Arc in Fate/Zero. I was thinking about making something including her in the Fate series into an actual story, but I wasn't sure. Suggestions please?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate series.**

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La Pucelle

Saber rolled across the surface of the river's dark water, pain arcing through her back from Berserker's final attack. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Servant's dark figure plunge into the river a few hundred yards away, handicapped by Archer's volley of swords.

Saber hastily stood, but another whiplash of pain shot through her back and spiked into her sides like a hot press of metal. Collapsing into a kneel with a grunt, Saber twisted around and touched a hand to small of her back, hissing at the pain in the sudden contact. She pulled it away and gazed achingly at the blood coating her armor-clad palm.

Caster's creature lurched forward suddenly and Saber struggled to her feet, ignoring the white-hot press of pain that jolted through her very being. A huge wave rolled towards her from the monster's sudden movement, and Saber leaped over it. The normally simple action sent her to her knees, doubled over the pain that was now running through her back into her chest and stomach.

"Saber!" came the frantic call from Irisviel on the shore. Saber barely heard her, and she barely noticed Lancer beside her, treading water.

"Saber!" he gasped, struggling to keep his head above the lapping water. "What is wrong?"

Saber grunted and shifted slightly, giving him a view of her shredded back.

Lancer was silent before a curse slid from his mouth unbidden. Then he cried, "You must use your Noble Phantasm, _now!_ There is no other way! _Try!"_

Saber nodded and shakily raised herself to her feet once more. She lifted her sword, but the motion sent another wave of agony sweeping through her shoulders and into her chest, and the world was sent pitching and rolling. Vision blurring for a moment, Saber bent double once more. She glanced up to see Kiritsugu's tiny figure on the far shoreline, also bent over himself.

His manna was nearly out. Saber couldn't heal herself.

A roar from Caster's creature sent her head snapping up. One of its huge tentacles arced toward Saber and Lancer, and Saber knew there was no way either of them could stop it. This had all been a hopeless cause after all. Would history ever stop repeating itself in Saber's presence?

But then the tentacle stopped.

Only a few hundred feet above the two Servants, the huge appendage stopped in midair, as if a force were holding it back. The muscles in the tentacle strained and heaved the creature itself roared in frustration, but the invisible force refused to give.

Suddenly, the entire monster pitched sideways, a huge wave with no source whatsoever crashing into its side. It roared again, but was cut off as it tried to right itself once more. The huge motions sent giant waves rolling for Saber and Lancer, but they seemed to roll _under _them, simply lifting them higher into the air instead of crashing full force into them.

The creature roared once more as several more titanic waves crashed in from all sides, barraging it with the water it dwelled in. The waves did no damage, but the beast was occupied and paying no heed to what was happening below, on the water's surface.

Before Saber and Lancer, a cloud of mist was forming. Droplets of water seemed to rise and evaporate in midair until a thick cloud stood between the two servants and Caster's creation. With unfathomable depths, the mist rose nearly fifty feet into the air.

Then the cloud of mist suddenly split down the middle as if cleaved in two by a blade. In its place stood a lone female figure, her back turned to them.

For a moment, Saber thought she was hallucinating. That person was her…But no. This was someone else.

The female standing before her and Lancer had blonde hair, yes, but it was pinned into a long, waist-length braid. She was clad in a black dress and shawl, with gleaming silver armor wrapping around her lower torso and waist, along with gauntlets and black thigh-length boots with a touch of metal around her feet. An intricate black and silver scabbard hung off her waist, weapon still sheathed. Though, in her hand she gripped a long metal pike bearing a fluttering black banner with a white cross etched into the center.

Lancer gasped beside her as the female turned slightly to gaze back at the two of them. Saber felt her own senses rock, touching her face with a finger in amazement at the similarities between the two of them.

The girl standing before them could be no more than sixteen, her face holding the same sharp angles of youth that Saber's held, yet still molded with hardship and grief that only a warrior's could show. A three-pronged silver headdress rested on her hairline, and just like Saber, her eyes gleamed blue in clashing lights around them.

Then the girl turned back towards Caster's monstrous creation. Her body stilled, her neck craned back to gaze up at the apparent 'head' of the beast. The waves suddenly halted, and the creature roared before turning to continue to its fixed destination. It began lumbering forward once more, ignoring the Servants in its path.

The newcomer hefted her pike, raising it high before slamming it back down into the water. Instead of rippling outward, the water seemed to turn and gather into one huge wave directed towards the monster. The wave seemed to hold for a long, silent moment before rushing forward, building into a wall of water nearly half the creature's size before finally hitting its target.  
The sea monster roared, reeling backwards. It finally noticed the girl clad in black standing before it and swooped a tentacle down on her head. Before it ever reached her, she lifted her pike again, and a spout of water erupted from the surface of the river, heaving up into the tentacle and throwing it aside.

Then the girl leaped high into the air and swept her pike over the surface of the tentacle. There was a short moment when nothing happened, then the bottom half of the tentacle flailed off, crashing into the river before disintegrating. As the girl landed on the surface of the water again, Saber noticed the creature's arm wasn't regenerating.

With a cry, Rider plunged from the sky and splashed heavily into the water beside Saber and Lancer. Sputtering, he cried, "Who is this new warrior?" Saber and Lancer both shook their heads before turning to watch the battle once more.

Enormous tentacles flailed every which way, trying to take out the girl as she weaved between the beast's arms. Despite the monster's efforts, she was accomplishing what had previously taken two high-class servants to do: tearing this creature limb from limb.

Finally, the beast landed a hit, and the girl splashed loudly into the water in front of the Saber and the other two servants. The monster roared victoriously and continued on, obviously satisfied that it had vanquished the woman annoying it. Saber gazed into the water where the newcomer had fallen.

A moment later, a hand shot out of the water, slapping onto the surface before the girl pulled the rest of her body out of the waves, climbing to her feet as if she had simply tripped and fallen on land. She gazed up at the creature before her for a long moment before once more raising her pike into the air.

The water around the girl swirled into a mini vortex and lights surrounded her in a circle. The flag upon her banner began to glow white and a thin beam of golden light erupted from the point of her pike and shot into the clouds above.

As Saber watched, mist began to gather around her, Lancer, and Rider once more. The lights and vortex suddenly dropped away, and the mist slowly faded to reveal hundred of men in armor, some on horses, and all of them with weapons. They stood on the surface of the water surrounding the three servants, standing at attention.

Saber knew this scene from many battles she had fought before, leading her brave knights against the enemy. Now this girl was doing the same with her own warriors.

The girl raised her pike a fraction higher and called in a high, carrying voice: "Do not fear! The Lord God Himself is with us in our battle! Pray you, follow me, and victory shall be ours!"

The men around Saber cheered defiantly in reply, drawing their swords and raising them high. Then, with a chorused roar, they all charged forward, passing by the three servants kneeling in their midst and sprinting past this new girl with weapons pointed at the sky. Fearlessly, they surrounded Caster's creature, slashing and hacking at the limbs surrounding it. Nothing was regenerating.

"A Reality Marble?" Lancer breathed as the three of them watched the battle before them.

"No, not quite," Saber hissed back with slight pain leaking into her voice as she glanced at the girl, still with her banner raised high, though she didn't move forward.

"This is a summoning," Rider grunted. "Just like Caster's beast, only hers is with an army. It's a lot like mine, except these men aren't all Heroic Spirits."

The girl slowly let down her pike, resting it on the water. She gazed at the ensuing battle before her before whirling around and walking briskly towards Saber, Lancer, and Rider. The three of them stared at her as she advanced upon them. She stopped only a foot away and gazed down at them silently for a long moment. Then she let go of her pike, and the weapon simply rested on the rippling surface of the water.

The girl walked around Lancer's half-sunken form to end up behind Saber. She kneeled behind her and without a word, placed her hands on her wounded back. Saber hissed, arching back as pain lanced through her once more. Then a sweet, cool sensation spread through her body and Saber relaxed again. She craned her neck around to watch in amazement as a golden glow exuded from the girl's hand, which were still set upon Saber's back. As she watched, she felt the wounds close quickly and energy seemed to flow from the girl into Saber, filling her with a rejuvenating feeling.

The girl stood and Saber did the same. She turned to look at the girl. They stared at each other for a long time.

"Servant Saber," the girl finally said, still holding her gaze. "I request your assistance."

"Who are you?" Saber asked, all but ignoring her declaration.

"My identity matters not," the girl said. "The Holy Grail Wars are at stake, and I am their protector. I am of the Ruler Servant Class. And though it is my duty to destroy this monster, I have not killed a man, and I do not wish to begin doing so this day. Once again, I request your assistance."

Saber was silent for a long time. She had never heard of the Ruler Class, but if what she said was true, Saber felt for her. She had shed blood too many times to count, and she didn't wish to push that guilt onto this girl.

"Very well."

The smile broke onto the girl's face and she nodded. Walking around Lancer's still-treading form once more, she hefted her pike and turned to Saber. "You are the only one who has a Noble Phantasm capable of destroying that creature. You must use it."

"What about your army?" Rider asked.

The girl, Ruler, looked at him. "Just as yours was not strong enough, mine lacks the numbers to defeat the monster, even with the grace of God behind us."

Saber stepped past her and raised her sword into the air, concentrating. Energy gathered into it, rising from the earth and water. As she called on the power around her, the soldiers the girl had summoned dissolved into golden light, only to be absorbed into her weapon. Saber faltered for a moment.

"Do not worry," Ruler said behind her. "They are fine. They have simply departed from this world once more."

Saber nodded and continued gathering her energy, aware the gazes of the Rider, Lancer, and Ruler on her back. Finally, she took a deep breath and cried in a loud voice, "Excalibur!"

She slashed downwards, unleashing a wave of golden light and energy. The torrent of power swept towards Caster's creature, engulfing it in its light. The creature roared, and Saber could feel its mass dissolving in the power. She lowered her sword tiredly, watching as the remnants of her attack catapulted into the sky and the clouds above.

Saber started as Ruler walked calmly past her, pike gone. She paced steadily towards the slowly dimming light, and before Saber could stop her, she plunged into the golden glow.

And suddenly, it all stopped, cut off. Where a pillar of light stood a moment before was now Ruler and Caster, facing each other. As Saber watched, Caster's body shook, tears running down his cheeks. He took a few steps towards Ruler before collapsing to his knees, face in his hands. Ruler looked on sadly for a moment before walking to his hunched form and kneeling beside him. Gently, she removed his face from his hands and pulled his head against her chest, wrapping her arms comfortingly around his neck.

"I'm sorry," an astonished Saber heard Caster sob. "I'm so sorry. I've…"

"It's okay," Ruler said, her voice thick with sadness. "You've suffered because of me. You've lost your faith. But now you have retained it. It will be okay, Gilles. You have committed many sins, but so have they been forgiven in your faith. Enter into the grace of God."

"Yes," Caster sobbed back. As Ruler held his head, he slowly dissolved into the golden light of a dissipating servant. As he dissipated, Ruler didn't move in the least. When he had finally gone with a whisper of a name that Saber couldn't hear, Ruler was left clutching an armful of thin air. She slowly stood. Then she turned.

"I thank you, Servant Saber, Arturia Pendragon," she called across the water. "You have helped my dear friend Gilles repent for all he has done. He may no longer be a Heroic Spirit, but he is now happy, and he his faith in God has finally been restored. You have done a great deed."

Saber stared at her. Could it be that this girl…

Ruler walked slowly to Saber, and she saw tears shining in her eyes. The girl stopped just in front of her and touched two fingers to Saber's forehead. A deep feeling of utter happiness and freedom filled Saber, making her gasp and nearly causing her knees to buckle. She hadn't felt such a wonderful feeling since she had pulled the sword from the stone.

"I understand," Ruler said. "But do not let it become a burden as Gilles did. Do what I have done, and forgive yourself for you actions, no matter how foolish. God already has."

With that, the girl stepped away. Blue glowing wings seemed to sprout from her back, spreading full length behind her. Then she slowly rose off the water, rising into the night sky, dissolving in blue as she went.

Saber was in shock. With the feeling, she now also has the surprise of realizing who this girl was. She was the protector the Holy Grail. She was the Ruler. She was the Holy Maiden. She was…

"Jeanne d'Arc," Lancer breathed beside her.

The last bits of the Ruler dissolved in blue just as she touched the clouds, and a ball of fire exploded above them. The heat washed over Saber all the way down to the river. But the warmth was not scathing. No, it was comforting.

Caster was right. She was a lot like Saber.

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**Good? Bad? Review? Thanks!**

**PICKLES FOR THE WORLD!**

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_This has been a word of wisdom from the Praetor of the First Legion of Jelly Crabs._


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